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Helen, with Ray, left, and Vic are calling it a day. Left friends and wellwishers at the big send-off |
News of Soho will never be the same…
The true end of an era as friends bid farewell to The Hobbit
THE Hobbit newsagent in Wardour Street has shut up shop after 35 years in the heart of Soho.
Yesterday (Thursday) was a sad day for the owners.
Ray Grant and his wife Helen, the couple who have worked in Soho all their lives, gathered with friends for a farewell toast.
Mr Grant – who has sold newspapers, magazines, sweets and cigarettes to Laurence Olivier, Helen Mirren and Paul McCartney – suffered a stroke last year and has decided to call it a day.
The couple are going along with colleague Vic Fielder who is also retiring after decades of loyal service.
A friend of the family described them as “the last bastions of Soho”.
The event attracted a large turnout of people, with friends and family joking and laughing as they reflected on the remarkable achievement.
David Bieda, a member of the Soho Society, described the shop as a “local landmark” and Raymond Boyle, who works in Soho, said: “It was the only newsagent I know of where you could go in, stand and talk with each and every customer, have a laugh and a joke, get the local gossip and all the big news, then leave without spending a penny.”
The Hobbit gets its name from the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy and the spirit of the shop harks back to Tolkien’s shire.
Ray has a collection of signed books by some of the most famous film stars.
Surrounded by friends and family, Helen expressed the sadness of someone who had to part with something they have known for a long time, saying: “We’re sad to retire after 35 years because we had so many friends here.” |
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